(PC) Thomas v. Ali

Opinion

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 JASON LATRELL THOMAS, Case No. 2:20-cv-00864-TLN-JDP (PC) 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 15 M. ALI, et al., 16 Defendants. 17 18 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 19 U.S.C. §1983. The court has determined that this case will benefit from a settlement conference. 20 Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate Judge Chi Soo Kim to conduct a settlement 21 conference at the California State Prison, Sacramento (“SAC”), 100 Prison Road, Represa, CA 22 95671 on September 18, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. The Court will issue any necessary transportation 23 order in due course. 24 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 25 1. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Chi Soo Kim on 26 September 18, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. at SAC. 27 2. Parties are instructed to have a principal with full settlement authority present at the 28 Settlement Conference or to be fully authorized to settle the matter on any terms. The 2 individual with full authority to settle must also have “unfettered discretion and 3 authority” to change the settlement position of the party, if appropriate. The purpose 4 behind requiring the attendance of a person with full settlement authority is that the 5 parties’ view of the case may be altered during the face to face conference. An 6 authorization to settle for a limited dollar amount or sum certain can be found not to 7 comply with the requirement of full authority to settle.1 8 3. Parties are directed to submit confidential settlement statements no later than 9 September 4, 2024, to cskorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his 10 confidential settlement statement to U.S. District Court, 501 I Street, Suite 4-200, 11 Sacramento, California 95814 “Attn: Magistrate Judge Chi Soo Kim” so it arrives 12 no later than September 4, 2024. The envelope shall be marked “CONFIDENTIAL 13 SETTLEMENT STATEMENT.” Parties are also directed to file a “Notice of 14 Submission of Confidential Settlement Statement” (See L.R. 270(d)). 15 16 Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of Court nor served on any 17 other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with the 18 date and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. 19 20 The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, 21

22 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the authority to order parties, including the federal government, to participate in mandatory settlement conferences… .” 23 United States v. United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, 694 F.3d 1051, 1053, 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 2012) (“[T]he district court has broad authority to compel participation in mandatory settlement 24 conference[s].”). The term “full authority to settle” means that the individuals attending the mediation conference must be authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable to 25 the parties. G. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989), cited with approval in Official Airline Guides, Inc. v. Goss, 6 F.3d 1385, 1396 (9th Cir. 1993). The individual with full 26 authority to settle must also have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the settlement position of the party, if appropriate. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485-86 (D. Ariz. 2003), amended on recon. in part, 27 Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., Inc., 2003 WL 23353478 (D. Ariz. 2003). The purpose behind requiring the attendance of a person with full settlement authority is that the parties’ view of the case may be altered during the face to face 28 conference. Pitman, 216 F.R.D. at 486. An authorization to settle for a limited dollar amount or sum certain can be found not to comply with the requirement of full authority to settle. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 596-97 (8th Cir. 2001). 1 2 typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 3 4 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 5 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, 1.e., statutory or other grounds upon 6 which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of 7 prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in 8 dispute. 9 c. A summary of the proceedings to date. 10 d. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and 11 trial. 12 e. The relief sought. 13 f. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a 14 history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. 15 g. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement 16 conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to pay. 17 h. Ifthe parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any other actions or claims 18 not in this suit, give a brief description of each action or claim as set forth above, 19 including case number(s) if applicable. 20 4. The Clerk of Court is directed to serve a copy of this order on the Litigation Office at 21 SAC via fax at (916) 294-3072 or via email. 22 93 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 ( q Swe — Dated: _ August 15, 2024 Q_-——— 25 JEREMY D,. PETERSON 26 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 27 28